Chapter 3: Deep Blue! Give Me Some Points!

"But claiming the Doushen Shenlei sure made a big commotion..."

Having reined in his Lei Ting, Xu Jingming looked at the wrecked living room and couldn't help scratching his head.

The entire living room looked as if it had been hit by missiles, with broken items and shards scattered everywhere.

On some of the shards, residual flames were still burning.

The walls and floor were also riddled with craters blasted out by electric arcs.

"Good thing I noticed something was off during the transformation just now and tried hard to control my strength, otherwise it probably wouldn't have been just this living room that suffered."

Xu Jingming felt a lingering dread.

The Doushen Shenlei, originating from Eastern mythology, is one of the ten primordial Lei Ting of the primordial age, possessing the power to annihilate immortals and slay gods.

As merely an Awakener, he was unable to manifest the full power of the Doushen Shenlei.

But if he unleashed his strength recklessly, he could easily blast through the entire floor! And the whole building would collapse as a result.

With the Doushen Shenlei at his side, even if the building collapsed, he himself wouldn't come to much harm.

But the other residents living in the building would be the ones to suffer.

Fortunately, he had desperately restrained the Lei Ting's power, so in the end such a tragedy didn't unfold.

"Looks like I still underestimated the Doushen Shenlei's power. If I'd known it would cause such a big commotion, I should have headed straight to the suburbs to claim the newbie gift pack."

Though he said so, Xu Jingming was actually quite satisfied with it.

After all, the stronger the ability's power, the more beneficial it would be for his future development.

"Right, the newbie gift pack also gave out 200 ability points. What are those for?"

The moment Xu Jingming recalled the newbie gift pack's other reward, a system notification chime sounded in his mind:

"Ability points can be obtained by killing fierce beasts. Consuming ability points allows you to raise your level and skills.

You can view your ability points and upgrade options in the system panel."

With this explanation from the system, Xu Jingming understood at once.

The so-called ability points were actually just like experience points in an online game.

"The 'kill monsters, level up' routine — simple, but practical."

A smile curling at his lips, Xu Jingming immediately opened his system panel.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Level】: Awakener

【Ability】: Doushen Shenlei (S)

【Physique】: 121 Qi-Blood (+)

【Spirit】: 140 Hertz (+)

【Skills】: Spear Art (Beginner+), Lightning Gale Break (Beginner+)

【Ability Points】: 200

The information on the system panel was very concise, and the plus signs at the end also indicated which ones could be upgraded and which could not.

As for Physique and Spirit, they represented the two fundamental attributes of an Awakener, and his attribute values were fairly decent.

After all, most Awakeners' Physique and Spirit were only around 100 points.

"But I've practiced spear art for five or six years, and my proficiency is still only at Beginner — isn't that a bit excessive?"

Xu Jingming grumbled inwardly.

Apart from abilities, humans also used weapons as a means of attack.

But unlike most people who chose blades or swords as their weapon, the weapon he had chosen was the long spear.

He had been practicing it since he was a teenager, yet even now his rating was still only at Beginner.

One should know that a skill's proficiency was divided into six grades: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, and Perfection.

Beginner was equivalent to having only just started.

As for the other skill, 'Lightning Gale Break,' it belonged to the spear-art combat technique category.

It was something he had purchased for 300,000 Great Xia coins in the year he turned sixteen, after awakening his weak-electricity ability.

Having practiced it for less than two and a half years up to now, it was only normal that his proficiency was still at Beginner.

"Looking at the panel info, I have 200 ability points. I can use them to boost attributes, or to boost skills — so which should I choose to spend them on?"

After his grumbling, Xu Jingming fell into thought.

Tomorrow was the annual college entrance examination.

He had to spend all 200 ability points where they counted most, raising his combat power as much as possible.

"Physique and Spirit are the two fundamental attributes.

Once these two attributes are raised, whether using combat techniques or controlling abilities, both will receive a corresponding boost.

In that case, I'll raise the fundamental attributes first!"

After a moment's deliberation, Xu Jingming split the 200 ability points down the middle, investing them separately into the Physique and Spirit upgrades!

"Deep blue, give me some points!"

The moment he pressed the plus sign on the panel, Xu Jingming first felt his Qi-Blood surge violently upward by a notch!

His surging Qi-Blood rampaged through his body like a great river!

Then his thinking also improved, becoming much clearer.

And not only that — even his control over the Doushen Shenlei had improved!

"Abilities, in essence, originate from a human's Physique and Spirit.

When these two attributes rise, the ability's power rises along with them."

Clenching his fist, feeling the power coursing through his body and the Doushen Shenlei he could summon at any moment, Xu Jingming couldn't help nodding in satisfaction.

He then looked at his system panel once more:

【Physique】: 141 Qi and Blood (+)

【Spirit】: 160 Hertz (+)

"Both major basic attributes have risen by 20 points. In other words, 1 Ability Point corresponds to 0.2 Qi and Blood, or 0.2 Hertz of Spirit."

"The exchange ratio is a bit low, but it's fine — after all, it's a side-effect-free direct boost."

"Too bad the newbie gift pack only had 200 Ability Points, otherwise I could have pushed it up another wave."

"Of course, with my current strength, getting into an Ability User university is more than enough."

From the moment he obtained the S-rank ability Purple Sky Doushen Shenlei, Xu Jingming's strength was already among the very top of all examinees in the entire Jiangnan Province Wu Ke Gaokao.

Now that his two major basic attributes had been boosted, he could truly be called one of the very top tier of examinees in Jiangnan Province!

The reason he said 'one of,' rather than the strongest.

Was simply because the vast Jiangnan Province had a population of over eighty million, and the number of examinees participating in the Wu Ke Gaokao exceeded seven hundred thousand.

Among those seven hundred thousand-plus examinees, the one thing there was no shortage of was freaks!

These freaks, although they didn't possess S-rank abilities.

But A-rank abilities, combined with bonuses like combat experience and battle techniques, were likewise not to be underestimated!

After all, some students' families could not only hire famous teachers to instruct them and have them learn rare, powerful battle techniques.

They could even arrange bodyguard escorts to take them directly into the wilderness zones to fight fierce beasts and accumulate combat experience.

And in this regard, Xu Jingming, being an orphan, had no way to compare.

However, the S-rank ability he possessed was likewise something other examinees could not compare to......

"Knock knock knock~~~~"

Just then, a frantic knocking suddenly rang out. Before Xu Jingming could react, with a loud bang, the entire door was kicked flying toward him.

Then, a group of firefighters wearing orange-red uniforms and holding water guns appeared in his line of sight.

Upon discovering there was no raging fire in the room as they'd imagined, and that there was even a living person standing there, they were instantly stunned.

"Uh, hello?"

Xu Jingming blinked his eyes and offered a tentative greeting.